The Prince and His Bodyguard
by Hawkeyeluvr991
Summary: This is an original story based on a dream. What will happen when a prince from the Kingdom of Erphen and a slave from the Region of Blerk are forced together? Read and find out! I will try to post chapters as consistently as possible. Rated M for graphic violence and explicit yaoi. Specific warnings posted at the top of each chapter. Don't like? Don't read.
1. Prologue

_Chapter Warnings: Graphic violence, Tragedy, and Death  
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Prologue

_Region of Blerk_

_10 years before present day_

"Ahava, slow down! You're going to trip and then start crying again!" Abdul called after his younger sister, panting as he tried to force his legs to move faster.

"You're just mad because you're not a fast as me, Abdul!" Ahava yelled back, sticking her tongue out back at him while she sprinted forward. Abdul groaned and stopped, holding his side. "Fine, fine. You win. Just stop running already!" He tried to sound irritated, but smiled anyway. He could never stay mad at his sister.

Ahava cheered and ran back to Abdul, tackling him to the ground and laughing. "Yay, I won!" Her long, dark hair fell into Abdul's face, tickling his nose as he resisted the urge to sneeze. "Get off me, you brat!" He chuckled, trying to shove her off.

"Abdul! Don't call your sister a brat!" Their mother scolded from the porch of their small house while their father chuckled in his rocking chair. "They're just playing, Manishie, let them have their fun." She just shook her head and carried the basket of vegetables she was holding back into the house.

Abdul had finally managed to get his sister off of himself when he noticed a cloud of dust and some blurry shapes off in the distance of the wastelands. "Papa, what's that?" He asked as he pointed to the horizon. His father squinted to get a better look for a moment, before his eyes widened. "Children, get inside. Now."

Both Abdul and Ahava looked confused, but the question of why died in their throats when they saw how scared their father looked. Abdul grabbed Ahava's wrist and quickly pulled her inside, explaining to their mother what they saw outside. The same look of fear came over her face when she looked out the window. She hurriedly ushered both kids into the cellar, huddling up in the corner and holding them close. Ahava shivered with fear and confusion, curling close to her mother and brother.

It was silent for many agonizing moments before the loud thudding of horse hooves was heard outside, followed by angry shouting. All three of them jumped when they heard the front down bang open and heard the loud footsteps of boots. "Search the whole house until you find them!" A voice boomed up above and the footsteps started to move around the house. They waited in dread as one pair of footsteps drew closer to the cellar door and yanked it open. A dirty face peered into the darkness and twisted into a grin when he spotted the shivering family.

"They're down here!" He called, walking further into the room and closer to the family. Manishie clutched her children tightly, her eyes wide with fear. The man was clothed in official soldier uniforms of the Kingdom of Erphen and four more soldiers soon made their way into the cellar. The last soldier with a big, greasy mustache dragged in their father and threw him forcefully forward onto the ground. He was conscious, but bleeding heavily from a blow to his head.

"Papa!" Abdul cried, struggling to get out of his mother's grasp to reach his father. "Silence, heathen!" The soldier who had dragged their father down bellowed, pulling out a sword from his sheath. "You're beloved father is a spy for your tyrannical leader, Addar, and has raised a family of traitors! Kill them all, but leave the boy to me."

The rest of the soldiers also took out their swords, suddenly rushing at the family in the corner. One yanked Manishie away from them by her neck, causing her scream to be cut off and turned into choked gargling as she struggled to breath, clawing at the soldier's hands. Another grabbed Ahava by her hair and pulled her away as she screamed in fear and pain. "Brother, help me!" Abdul tried to jump at the soldier, rage burning in his eyes, but was stopped abruptly as the lead soldiers knee collided with his stomach.

He fell to the ground, gasping for air and spitting blood from the force of the attack. He cried out as his head was suddenly wrenched up by his hair. "Don't worry, boy, I'm not going to kill you. You're strong enough to be a slave." The horrid man grinned as he spoke to Abdul. "But before that happens, why don't we have some fun first?"

The other soldiers laughed and started to attack the rest of Abdul's family. Abdul watched in horror as his mother's arms were sliced from her body, blood spraying from the wounds as she screamed in agony before her head up completely chopped off. Her limp body fell to the ground, her face still twisted with pain. Abdul screamed in rage, tears streaming down his cheeks, as his father's head was smashed in with a club and his sister was stabbed through the stomach, left to bleed out on the floor.

Abdul struggled fiercely, managed to scratch a few of the soldiers' face pretty badly before he was hit in the head with the butt of the sword and fell unconscious. All the soldiers laughed as they climbed up out of the cellar and headed out to their horses.

As they galloped away, the only sound in the house was the pitiful whimpering of Ahava as her life poured out and stained into the floor. And then, silence.

_Kingdom of Erphen_

_7 years later_

Daniel looked at his new baby brother in amazement, smiling when little Malin waved his tiny fists and gurgled happily at his older brother. The nurse holding him laughed. "I can see he already recognizes his older brother. You two will get along very well, I can sense it."

"I certainly hope so." Daniel replied, reaching out to one of Malin's little fists with his finger. Malin smiled and wrapped his fingers around his brother's bigger finger, causing Daniel to smile wider. His smile disappeared when he saw the other castle doctor running down the hall toward them. Daniel didn't even have time to ask her what was wrong as she rushed past into the room where his mother and father were. The young prince's stomach twisted into a cold knot as he rushed in after the doctor.

"What's going on?" He froze in shock when he saw the two doctors frantically trying to do something for his mother, who was deathly pale. Daniel's father was standing at her side, clutching her hand. "Rose! Oh, Rose, you can't die!" Daniel felt dizzy at the sight of all the blood on the bed, leaning against the door frame heavily as his eyes remained locked on his mother's face.

She was staring up at his father, though her eyes were distant and unfocused. A weak smile spread across her pale lips. "I'm...I'm sorry, Allen...take care of our sons..." Her words were so faint Daniel almost didn't hear them. Her eyes then fell close and her hand became limp in the king's. The doctors backed away, grief plain on their faces.

Daniel reached up to his face, feeling tears on his cheeks as he watched his father try to wake the queen. Out in the hallway, as if on cue, the cries of Malin could be heard.


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter Warnings: None_

Chapter 1

_Kingdom of Erphen_

_Present Day_

Daniel slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the warm sunlight that filtered in through his window. He let out a soft sigh and slowly sat up, scraping his blonde bangs back out of his face while the layered brown hair underneath stuck out in odd angles due to another restless night.

Besides for the light from the one window, his room was very drab and gloomy for that of a young prince. The cylinder walls were made of rough stone of a dull gray color and the door was thick oak wood worn from time with a dimly colored door knob that once shined gold. His bed was large, so large it was almost twice the length of Daniel himself, but the thick purple sheets were frayed at the ends where the green trim started.

Ugh, purple and green. The royal colors of Erphen. Daniel thought they were they worst combination of colors to ever be thought of. He dragged himself out of bed and over to his cedar dresser, pulling out clothes for the day, which were unfortunately in the same two colors he hated.

He pulled the top over his head and straightened it out in the mirror. He frowned at his own reflection as he tugged on the oversized collar and the stupid puffy sleeves. His eyes slid to his face and he grimaced. Deep shadows hung under his eyes from countless sleepless nights and his blue-green eyes were dull and haunted. He quickly rubbed his tired eyes before taking his pants out of the dresser and pulling them on so he wouldn't have to look at the mirror again.

He glanced down at the top of the dresser, his eyes narrowing at sight of his crown. The three jewels on the very front glittered coldly, as if mocking Daniel as he looked at them. The biggest red jewel represented his father, Allen, the King of Erphen, but as if to allude to the poor health of him the jewel was cracked and slightly cloudy. The two smaller jewels on either side of that one were to represent his brother, Malin, and his mother, Queen Rose. Sorrow welled up in his throat as his mother's jewel still glowed a rich blue color, as if she were still alive. Malin's jewel also shone out like his mother's, a deep amber color that managed to make Daniel smile, even if it was small.

He finally picked up the crown and placed it on his head, adjusting it in the mirror without looking at his face this time. He then took in a deep breath before walking over to his door and opening it slowly. He winced at the bright light that immediately attacked his eyes, shielding them as much as he could with his hand.

His bedroom was inside a short, cylinder tower in the corner of the castle that opened right into the large courtyard. The rest of the immense castle towered above Daniel as he closed his door behind him. As miserable as Daniel was in the mornings, the courtyard always made him feel a little less wretched. Large patches of vibrantly colored flowers covered almost the entire space, the other parts filled in with bright green grass. Daniel was grateful that it never got cold enough in Erphen to kill the flowers; he didn't think he could survive without their ever present cheerfulness.

He turned his head when he heard what only could be described as a cross between a hawk call and a dog bark. A creature with a wolf-like body and the beak and wings of a bird bounded across the courtyard toward Daniel, barking and panting happily. Daniel smiled and crouched down, scratching the creature's head. "Hey, Hardwin. You happy to see me, boy?" Hardwin yipped and bounced happily, resting his front paws on Daniel's knees.

Hardwin was a griffin and Daniel's spirit animal. Spirit animals were given to royalty at birth and shared a special link to tell whether the other one is in trouble or not. As a human aged, so did the spirit animal, so when the human finally passes away, so does the animal. Hardwin's fur was a dark purple color except for on his face, on his belly, the inside of his ears, his paws, and the tips of his wings which are a dim green color. His ears stood up straight and he had a short bushy tail like that of a dog. He was adorned with golden jewelry on his ankles, a golden necklace with a purple amethyst in the middle, and three golden earrings in his left ear.

"Want to come see Malin with me, Hardwin?" Daniel asked, stroking the griffin's fluffy mane. Hardwin barked and flapped his wings, which were too underdeveloped for him to fly yet. Daniel chuckled and stood up, continuing to walk toward the castle. Hardwin scampered after him, running ahead multiple times but each time turning back and waiting for Daniel to catch up to him. Whenever Hardwin was around, Daniel usually couldn't help smiling at the energetic young pup whose personality seemed to be the exact opposite of Daniel's.

"Don't ever leave me, Hardwin. I couldn't bear it..." He whispered to himself, but Hardwin still turned and fixed him with his bright yellow eyes, a fierce light glowing underneath. Daniel knew he understood and cherished the creature's silent promise in his cracked heart as he entered the castle.

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><p>Finally got the next chapter out! :D I'm trying to keep them fairly short so I can post more chapters frequently, since I am busy with school and other things. You can also check out my deviantart (hawkeyeluvr991) where I made a picture of Hardwin from a Griffin Maker on deviantart. The link to the maker itself is in the description. Thanks for reading and I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can!<p> 


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